How to Increase Your Core Stability
Knowing how to increase your core stability is important whether you’re out-of shape, moderately active, or an athlete. Core stability exercises can help strengthen your entire body, improve your posture, and increase your balance. By learning about core stability, and incorporating certain exercises into your current workout routine or lifestyle, you can increase your core stability and overall health. If you have difficulty with any exercise, or are trying to develop a specific routine tailored to your individual fitness needs, you should consult with a physical therapist. Additionally, it’s always suggested that you consult with your physician before starting any new type of exercise routine.
What Is Core Stability
Your core refers to your trunk, and it includes your spine, pelvic area, and the muscles, tissues, and ligaments found in this region of the body. Strengthening the muscles that immediately surround your spine, as well as the muscles near the surface in your back and abdominal region, can provide a multiplicity of benefits such as reducing the chances you’ll sustain injury or develop back problems, and helping you improve strength and balance, and posture. One of the reasons strengthening your core stability provides so many benefits is because of all parts of your body are interconnected to a degree. If you injure one part of your body, it can cause a reaction in another area of your body.
Basic Exercises
Before engaging in core stability exercises, you should find your neutral spine position by standing up, aligning your shoulders your hips, and slightly arching your lower back. When you’re in proper posture, your spine will naturally curve in three locations, your lower back, upper back, and neck. You should maintain this natural posture when performing core stability exercises.
One exercise is to lie on your back, with your feet on the floor, and push upward, raising your bottom, then lower your body, rest, and repeat the exercise eight to twelve times. Another exercise, which you can perform virtually anywhere, is to pull your stomach in towards your spine for about six seconds, rest, and repeat eight to twelve times.
Proper Breathing Techniques
Whether you’re specifically focusing on exercises designed to improve core stability, or you’re following a standard workout routine, proper breathing can assist you with developing core stability, and preventing injury. Rather than breathing solely into your chest, it’s important to breath from your diaphragm. You’ll know that you’re breathing properly when you can put your hand on your abdomen and feel it move as you breath in and out.
Yoga
Practicing yoga is another fantastic way to increase core stability, because the poses are designed to strengthen and develop multiple key muscle groups found in your core. To obtain the benefits of yoga, it’s important to take classes only from knowledgeable instructors, who can guide you through the sequence of breathing exercises and poses in the proper order. Over time, as your core stability increases, you’ll be able to move into more advanced poses, and further improve your core stability. Benefits cited by individuals who have practiced yoga include reduction or cessation of lower back pain, improvements in balance and posture, and the ability to recover faster after giving birth.
